Project KP61: New guts!

I know, it’s been a little while since I’ve had a decent update on my old daily driver but to be completely honest I didn’t expect it to be this long between updates either. I guess its’s a combination of a crazy summer with the family which will always be my priority over cars and the plain and simple fact that this swap has proven to be quite a bit more involved that I had first thought. In retrospect, any motor would have been about the same process as the 4AGE. Some may think that this is somewhat of a “drop- in” swap but that couldn’t be further from the truth, just because it’s a Toyota motor doesn’t mean it makes the process any easier.

Alright, enough with the excuses, and on to the progress! If you recall, last time we left off HERE I had just pulled out the old 4K-C motor. I had also performed quite a bit of cleanup and maintenance on the replacement 4AGE motor as well but there was still quite a bit left to be done before I dropped it in it’s new home. First up, you may have recalled that I stripped the entire 4AGE harness of everything that wasn’t vital to making it run. Now it’s time to do the same thing to the KP’s chassis harness so it’s time to bust out the multimeter and wire strippers again and remove all of the wiring that was once related to the 4K-C motor to make sure I don’t have any unnecessary wiring left in the engine bay.

When I finished all that was left was what was necessary to run the lights, wipers, horn, starter and a few alternator and gauge cluster wires.

I could have just dropped the 4AGE right in, and I probably should have but I figured while the motor was out would be a good time to clean things up a bit. And as it usually goes in my world, a little cleanup turned into a lot. The first thing to go were a few brackets that I knew weren’t going to be re-used with the new motor and would go a long way into making for a much more aesthetically pleasing engine bay. A little careful drilling out of the spot welds and out they came… first was the old battery mount.

Voltage regulator bracket.

A/C dryer bracket.

And the entire cable-actuated clutch bracket.

Why am I removing that one you might ask? Well, unfortunately the old transmission used a cable-actuated clutch setup and the T-50 transmission out of the twin cam AE86 that I am using utilizes a hydraulic setup. This also means I will have to add a slave cylinder into Starlet as well. The most ideal way to do this would be to go for a nice remote mount Tilton pedal setup but because the budget is very tight with this car and I already had the slave cylinder from the AE86 we’ll just use that instead for now. The first step is to mount the AE86 master cylinder in the only place it will physically fit and on the KP that just so happens to be in the fender well.

Not the most ideal location I know, but it it clears the front tires at full lock and until I come across a sponsorship from Tilton or possibly another junkyard concoction this will have to do. I will also obviously have to fabricate some sort of debris shield as well but I want to make sure it actually works first. The next step is now to make a linkage off of the clutch pedal that will actuate the mater cylinder. I opted for some very thick steel channel to minimize any sort of flex that may occur as this part is likely to see some abuse

And here it is in place to give you a better idea. Like I said, not the most ideal solution but it will have to do for now.

With that taken care off, it was time to clean up the oily mess that leaky old 4K-C left behind. I would love to tell you there’s a magical solution for this but unfortunately it takes some concentrated de-greaser and A LOT of hard scrubbing and scraping that will leave your lower back feeling awesome the next day…. maybe low cars aren’t always better. Here’s where we started:

And a couple of hours later…

The benefit to having oil encasing your entire engine bay is that it actually acts as a protectant over time, the sub frame looked absolutely factory fresh when I was done. I also unbolted all of the brake, fuel, and hydraulic lines from the firewall so I could get behind them and make sure everything was as clean as it could possibly be.

You may have noticed the little spot of rust on the left-side wheel well. I figured I might as well take care of that at the same time as well because I knew I would be kicking myself if I didn’t so out with the old…

And in with the new.

There were also a few holes left over on the firewall that needed plugged after I removed the old cable setup..

More patches, more welding…

And after a quick spray of primer in the engine bay to match the exterior of the car I was about ready to drop in the new motor.

With the motor off the stand I was now able to install the new pilot bearing and access the rear main seal to install a new one to make sure that all of the engine oil stays where it should and keeps my new engine bay nice and clean.

On with the quality made T3 motor mounts Gabriel supplied me and I ran into a slight problem. Due to the limited amount of space the OEM oil cooler unit has to be re-clocked. I think this will put the oil filter a little close to the exhaust manifold for my liking so I’ll probably have to go to an aftermarket sandwich adapter of some sort….. we’ll see. If anyone out there knows of a good aftermarket kit for the 4AGE let me know.

And finally in with the 4AGE.

Looks right at home in it’s new location don’t you think? And in my opinion worth every bit of the extra work to get the engine bay looking decent.

There’s a little more work to be done before I can finalize the rear transmission mount. You can’t really see it but the new shifter location sits back about 4″ from where the original one was located.

If you’re careful enough with you measurements you can cut a new hole, and use what you cut out to fill in the old location.

Like this.

Now that I can finish the rear transmission mount it’s time to make some brackets for the new AE86 radiator that will be going in.

Here’s where they sit after they’ve been welded in.

And after I finish fabricating the upper mounts there should be enough room for a slim electric puller fan to fit on the backside of radiator.

That’s where I’m at for now, it’s now time for some serious wiring, battery relocation, custom drive shaft, exhaust, as well as a completely redesigned fuel system before I can fire it up. I definitely have my work cut out for me if I want to get this on the road with the winter season looming so wish me luck, because I’m going to need it

This car is so cool! I know its not a hako or kenmeri, but it IS cool in its own right and with the work you’ve done, will make for a very cool lookin’ car that will be a blast to drive. Keep up the progress, I love seeing what you’ve done to it.

Thanks guys… all the kind words are doing wonders for my motivation, now if I could just add a few hours to the day And in response to JDMjunkies, to be honest
I’m not entirely sure when I’ll get to actually painting the car, not to mention deciding on a color for it. It’s not a terribly difficult motor to pull anyways. After I finish up the swap, proper suspension and an LSD are the next items on the list. I also have a chin spoiler to install as well as big plans for a hand formed aluminum rear wing (ambitious I know) TRD style, just a little smaller because I think they are a little too big without the complete N2 kit and I plan to keep this one stock body…. ish.

Zivko, I had an entire donor AE86 chassis so I’m trying to use everything I can…. rear axle will go in as well eventually but due to the fact it’s around 45mm or so wider than the KP one I think I’m going to shorten it. I’m trying to keep the the stock fender lines and I don’t want to have to run a weak offset in the rear to make up for a wider axle.

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